First, State Department Spokesman Jen Psaki (who also worked as a spokesman for the Obama campaign) denied Kerry was in Nantucket despite multiple reports, sitings and a Kerry motorcade traffic jam.

Kerry spokesperson Jen Psaki denied the report.

Since his plane touched down in Washington at 4 am, Secretary Kerry was working all day and on the phone dealing with the crisis in Egypt, Psaki said in a statement.

Kerry was absent from a White House photo showing President Obama meeting with members of his national security team to discuss the situation in Egypt, but Psaki said he had dialed in on a secure phone line for that meeting.

He participated in the White House meeting with the President by secure phone and was and is in non-stop contact with foreign leaders, and his senior team in Washington and Cairo.

Earlier a State Department spokesperson said she could not comment on Kerrys whereabouts on Wednesday, but said Kerry is kept in the loop on all the latest developments.

The secretarys department is in touch with officials regarding the developments in Egypt at all levels at all times, State Department Press Secretary Beth Gosselin said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry  who spent the Fourth of July on sun-splashed Nantucket even as the chaos from a military takeover rocked Egypt  drew fire from Republican critics who said its a bad time for the nations top diplomat to be seen cavorting on an island getaway.

It doesnt look good, and I think it sends the wrong message said Republican strategist Brad Marston. If I were advising him, Id already have him on a plane.

As first reported on bostonherald.com, Kerry, who owns a house and a yacht on the ritzy retreat, was seen yesterday strolling down Federal Street away from July Fourth festivities on Main Street in jeans and a light-colored polo shirt.

Later in the afternoon, Kerry was seen offloading bags from a single-person kayak to a boat in Nantucket Sound after launching from the beach behind his home at 5 Hulbert Ave.

Republicans pounced on the image of the vacationing secretary of state and sought to use it as a symbol of what they deem a big Obama administration failing  the inability to convey a clear message on foreign policy on hotspots like Syria, Turkey and Egypt.

I would think the secretary of state would interrupt his vacation and at least send a very clear signal  even by flying back to Washington for a day or two  that on our Independence Day we are very concerned about the freedom and democracy that we hope is instilled for some period of time in the Arab World, said Patrick Griffin, a New Hampshire-based GOP strategist.

Then of course, Psaki tried to run cover by reassuring everyone Kerry was hard at work solving the world's problems...from his kayak of course.

Kerrys staff yesterday insisted hes fully engaged and has been logging long hours and high miles, including a recent 12-day, 25,000-mile trip to the Middle East and Asia.

Yesterday he dialed into a meeting with President Obama and members of his national security team in the Situation Room, according to the State Department. Kerry also called foreign dignitaries from Egypt, Israel, Norway, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Secretary Kerry has been working tirelessly around the clock since he returned from his 10-day trip and there has not been a moment where he has not been focused on doing everything possible to communicate with his team in Washington and in Egypt, within the administration and with his counterparts around the world, Kerry spokeswoman Jen Psaki told the Herald last night.

As a reminder, the violence in Egypt was expected to be so bad, the State Department pulled all U.S. diplomats. But hey, Kerry had some tanning to do, okay?

The State Department has ordered all nonessential U.S. diplomats and the families of all American Embassy personnel to leave Egypt in anticipation of potential violence.

Egyptian troops reportedly opened fire Friday on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi outside the Republican Guard headquarters, where he was believed held, but there were conflicting reports on casualties.

The Associated Press, which had a photographer at the scene, said at least one protester was killed.

Do I detect a pattern here...Osama Obama was on his way to a Vegas fundraiser as our Ambassador to Libya was being tortured,murdered and humiliated on the anniversary of 9/11...and now this about John Friggin Kerry.

2
posted on 07/05/2013 1:45:39 PM PDT
by Gay State Conservative
(The Civil Servants Are No Longer Servants...Or Civil.)

Well see, that’s the left for you-they don’t care if they get caught in lies, they only care if they escape the consequences. Which they always do, in this immoral and unethical administration. It’s “transparent”, alright-transparently mendacious. What do they need to care, since they always get away with it?

I have a visceral hatred of this guy for defaming and slandering his brother veterans for cynical self-promoting reasons. I hate him even more because it worked. And even more because he achieved the fame and high office he cynically sought, and then used it for his own enrichment and celebrity.

14
posted on 07/05/2013 1:56:07 PM PDT
by clintonh8r
("Europe was created by history. America was created by a philosophy." Baroness Thatcher)

I agree that you can’t believe anything anyone in the Zero Administration says.

And also, what could Kerry have done if he were 100% on the job? The Egyptians don’t care what he says, and the administration was never going to put themselves on the line for Morsi. Maybe if he’d legalized homosexual marriage in Egypt, he’d have been worth saving ...

On the way home from a fireworks show last night I heard Michael Savage saying our current horrible state of affairs can be traced back to VietNam. He says that war gave rise to most who are in power today in our schools and politics. The anti-American mindset and radicals are now in charge.

So here is Kerry proving Savage’s point.

My thought is that their motives have changed quite a bit - now it’s money and power - nothing that can be construed as noble.

Given the fact that the chaos in Egypt began with the Billy/Bernadine “Days of Rage” visit a year before the overthrow of Mubarak, then moved on to the Hillary/Huma-engineered “election” of the Muslim Brotherhood a few years later, Kerry probably figures the collapse of Egypt this week really isn’t much his business. He could be on to something, too.

Secretary of State John French Kerry bravely searched for his Top Secret State Department phone along the Nantucket shops and restaurants. He reportedly checked out [interrogated the management of] Nantucket Ice Cream, Murray's Toggery Shop, and Ventuno's Ristorante before calling it a day.

Yeah OK, this is all terrible. But does any of it really surprise you?

Living in Illinois, I never had a doubt that this administration would be terrible. The only surprise that I got from their election is that they turned out to be much worse that I'd imagined they would be.

It was obvious during the first week of 0's first term when he wiped out the east coast mafia to clear the decks for his home boys in Chicago.

Anyone who paid any attention to what Obama was doing in his first term, and still voted for him for a second, deserves any and everything they get.

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